Two São Paulo restaurants hit three stars
Brazil became the first Latin American country with two three‑star Michelin restaurants after Evvai and Tuju in São Paulo were promoted in the 2026 guide. Local outlets reported both promotions and provided context on price and prestige for dining in those venues ( ). U.S. coverage also picked up Michelin’s regional expansion, noting new city‑level recommendations from Indianapolis to Tennessee ( ).
Brazil now has its first three-star Michelin restaurants, and both are in São Paulo: Evvai and Tuju were promoted in the 2026 guide announced on April 13. (guide.michelin.com) The promotions gave Brazil — and Latin America — their first restaurants at Michelin’s top rank after both houses previously held two stars. The ceremony took place at the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro. (guide.michelin.com; g1.globo.com) Evvai, in Pinheiros, is led by chef Luiz Filipe Souza and serves an Italian-Brazilian tasting menu priced at R$1,150, with add-ons including a cheese selection for R$79 and caviar for R$390. G1 reported that Michelin highlighted the restaurant’s illustrated menu notes created by Souza himself. (g1.globo.com; guide.michelin.com) Tuju, in Jardim Paulistano, is led by chef Ivan Ralston and is built around a seasonal menu tied to “the cycles of nature,” as G1 described it from Michelin’s write-up. Michelin said the 2026 Brazil selection still totals 149 restaurants and added 12 new entries this year. (g1.globo.com; michelin.com) Michelin’s star system is meant to rank how far a meal is worth traveling for: one star signals a very good restaurant, two stars mean it is worth a detour, and three stars mean it is worth a special journey. Brazilian coverage noted that the award is based on anonymous inspectors judging ingredients, flavor harmony, technique, personality, and consistency. (receitas.band.com.br; g1.globo.com; gq.globo.com) The result also closes a long gap in Michelin’s Brazil coverage. After the guide returned in late 2025 following a four-year pause, Evvai and Tuju were already among six Brazilian restaurants with two stars; by April 2026, both had moved to the top tier. (receitas.band.com.br; guide.michelin.com) Not everyone reads Michelin as a pure measure of taste. In O Globo, critic Ian Oliver argued that guides and rankings also reward a specific restaurant model built around service, setting, long tasting menus, and a certain idea of “experience,” not just what is on the plate. (oglobo.globo.com) Michelin is expanding its reach beyond its traditional capitals at the same time. U.S. local outlets this week pointed to new Michelin recommendations in places such as Tennessee and to speculation about future city-by-city attention in Indianapolis, a sign that the guide’s influence is spreading even where full star systems are not yet in place. (timesfreepress.com; indytoday.6amcity.com) For Brazil, though, the immediate change is concrete: two addresses in São Paulo now carry the guide’s highest label, and Michelin says both are destinations “worth the journey” on their own. (guide.michelin.com)
